Zusi won't be stepping into Kamara's shadow

Last week Sporting KC were upstaged at home by Portland Timbers — losing 3-2 in what was undoubtedly the most significant road win (admittedly to that point there weren't exactly many to choose from) in the Timbers short history.

Evidently this stuck in their collective craw. Chivas USA arrived on Sunday afternoon and were swept aside 4-0 by a Sporting KC side who dominated possession and repeatedly opened up the visitors from the flanks. In doing so they were principally prompted by the irrepressible Graham Zusi.

Zusi has always looked very comfortable on the ball compared to his immediate peers, but his international elevation over the last year and a half seems to have given him further self-belief. He has added a calmness to his decision making that makes space for himself and those around him, and when Sporting have the ball and their frontline movement is in full flow, that can make for an irresistible combination. Again and again on Sunday Zusi scampered into position, paused, looked up and slid a tempting ball across the box to tease the Chivas defense and look to provide a chance for his fellow forwards. After a few near misses he found Bieler for the opener following a sharp reaction to a turnover in the 41st minute, and then with Chivas looking to rally after half time he slid a beautiful reverse pass for Nagamura to go through one on one with Dan Kennedy. Kennedy had come into the game on the back of a high profile contract extension, but left it on a red card after referee Baldomero Toledo adjudged him to have brought down Nagamura as the player went round him. Bieler scored against substitute keeper Patrick McLain, before Zusi himself stole in at the near post to add a third. Even his leaving the game was an assist of sorts — his replacement C.J.Sapong adding a late 4th after Zusi had come out in the 67th minute.

Sporting are welcoming a familiar face back this week. But if Kei Kamara has any notion that his return from the Premiership (for however long that might be) is a case of the big man being back in town, Zusi offered up a display that suggested he was quite his own man by now, and that the Sporting team are back on track. Kamara will be welcomed back warmly in Kansas City, but not as a savior. They don't seem to need one...GP

Red cards and a furious manager in Philadelphia

John Hackworth is not the first MLS coach you think of as being outspoken — if anything one of the unique selling points for him replacing Peter Nowak at Philadelphia was a change of tone from the late Nowak era, where abrasiveness was something of a managerial policy.

So when Hackworth prefaced his main comment on the game against Seattle, with the phrase "Look, I'll raise my hand and take the fine..." it was clear he was majorly upset about something. Turns out the complaint was a familiar one — refereeing — but for Hackworth, it wasn't a one off error, but a critical mass of controversial incidents that had changed the game.

"So many parts of that game were mismanaged by officials," claimed Hackworth — and in fairness he may have a point. First there was the dismissal of Philadelphia's Sheanon Williams and Seattle' Lamar Neagle in the 85th minute, for one of those forehead-to-forehead face-offs that tend to make the practitioners look more like idiots than hard men. It was a moment that called for strong refereeing to defuse the situation, with the scores tied in a tense 2-2 game in which both sides had led. Instead, Jorge Gonzalez issued red cards to Williams and Neagle, and rather than controlling the game, set the tone for a fractious last few minutes that also saw DeAndre Yedlin ejected for a lunging tackle and Eddie Johnson booked. That was the last major call, but there was still time for a non-call as Philadelphia pushed for a winner — a Conor Casey shot was clearly blocked by Leo Gonzalez's hand in the last significant action of the game, but play was waved on.

Perhaps the timing of the incidents, coming so late in the game, made Hackworth's feelings all the more raw, but he was explicit in condemning the referee's performance:

"It has to be said that we cannot be in this league and have this level of play and have officiating be as bad as that...that guy has come here before and done the exact same thing."

Mr Gonzalez will doubtless face a slightly uncomfortable inquest on Monday morning from his PRO assessor, over the way he seemed to let the game get away from him, while Hackworth will now doubtless have a disciplinary fine to add to the disappointment of a game he believed was "not a draw in any way, shape, or form." But perhaps when the latter puts the wild final few minutes into the context of the whole game he'll reflect that there were bright spots. For one, his side fought back from a goal down against a Seattle side who must have thought they'd turned a corner by finally winning last time out. He might also want to remember another condensed period of action within the game - the two minutes early in the second half where Danny Cruz scored twice, to match his goal haul from his previous 36 games.

But if Hackworth looks at the even bigger picture he might become frustrated at Philadelphia losing another lead - the third time they've done so this season. They can't afford to do so — their scoring margin for error is tight. McInerney has had a great start and Casey is finding his feet, but none of their games other than last week's 2-0 loss to New England have been decided by more than a one goal margin. And while Hackworth can no more control the officiating than the weather, he can perhaps work on his side's mental toughness when they get into winning positions. GP

Wednesday's New York clash just got bigger for Montreal Impact

The deflation of letting a two-goal lead slip through their hands, away from home at the defending Supporters' Shield champions, may chip away at the Montreal Impact, but it shouldn't. If they're going to establish themselves as an elite Eastern conference outfit, Montreal must now regroup, forget the late second half collapse in San Jose, and cross that 'blue line' sports psychologists often cite.

Next up is a cross-country trip to face the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday, in a top of the table clash. If they are aiming to stay at the summit, four points from away trips to New York and San Jose is more than acceptable. conceding to a late Sam Cronin strike (of course they scored late again…it's the Goonies, after all) will only rile Montreal, as they aim to grab all three points against the Red Bulls.

They have a chance. One thing in particular has helped transform the Impact this season: strength in depth. After their resounding 6-0 victory over Toronto FC last Wednesday in the Canadian Championship, Montreal shuffled their pack impressively. The changes were seamless and with the squad deeper, a key factor is that talented players are now buying into the squad rotation policy. Daniele Paponi, Patrice Bernier and Davy Arnaud were all left out of the starting lineup on Saturday as Marco Di Vaio, Felipe Martins and Collen Warner came in.

Last season Jesse Marsch didn't have that depth at his disposal. Marsch of course helped build this team but Marco Schällibaum has taken them onto the next level and added experience. The Quebec side will have to draw on all of that to turn a negative finish in California into a positive result in New York, with the dreaded West to East coast journey handing them the difficult task of two games within four days. Just a few weeks ago Sporting KC struggled with the opposite journey, after they defeated New York 1-0 in a midweek game at RBA before travelling cross-country and losing 2-0 to the LA Galaxy four days later.

Now it's Montreal's turn to see if they can solve the draining conundrum of time zone travel, crunch games and squad rotation. If they can do that, consistently, the Eastern conference crown and MLS Cup could be heading to Quebec. If that's a bold statement, these are the weeks such claims get tested. JPW

Seven goals in nine games isn't good enough. We need to score more goals, there's no dancing around that. That's not just on our forwards, but on our midfielders too. It's a team effort. We need our defenders to bang one in on set pieces, and that hasn't happened yet.

Lagerway, as he says, is not one to "dance around" Salt Lake's lack of goals. Neither is head coach Jason Kreis. With Sabo out, Devon Sandoval, Luis Gil, Javier Morales and others have to take on the goal-scoring mantle. Gil and Morales came up with the goods at the weekend but truth be told, RSL are lacking a certain cutting edge that in the past has helped them find goals during crucial moments of tight contests. Those names mentioned can't quite turn a game in a split-second the way Sabo can and Fabian Espindola (now of the New York Red Bulls) could.

RSL have a goals against average of 0.9 per game this season. But they have the same ratio for goals scored, with nine scored in ten games. There lies the problem. In the past, with Espindola and Saborio attacking the opponents backline, RSL would wear their opponents down with razor-sharp movement and clinical finishing late in games. Now that is missing, they're caught in limbo on when to attack and when to possess. Almost leaving it to one another to provide that extra spark of genius.

On Saturday that came via Joao Plata, after two classy assists. His wizardry, along with Sandoval's fight for the cause, has been a plus point for RSL during the scoring drought. The win could spark RSL's offense into life. But is that drought really over? On Saturday they came up against a Vancouver side struggling for confidence — Martin Rennie's new additions aren't quite living up to the expectations. Last week in five things, we spoke about how Rennie's side showed fight in battling back against Dallas…. But that went missing against RSL on Saturday night.

Harsh words from the usually cool, calm and collected Scot followed.

The players have to decide whether they've got the desire or not. In my opinion, they need to apologize to the fans for that performance. They need to take a good, hard look at themselves and they need to decide if they want to be a part of the club going forward.

The 'Caps are now second from the bottom in the West, with only Chicago and D.C. United having lost more games than Vancouver's four, going into Sunday's games.

Despite RSL defeating Vancouver, Lagerwey's critical words earlier in the week will still be resonating. Beating a Whitecaps outfit devoid of confidence and struggling to gel doesn't necessarily signal a change in fortune or a rejuvenated attack for RSL. But the fans in Utah certainly hope so. JPW

Houston Dynamo finally win at the Home Depot Center

Houston last won a regular-season game against LA at the Home Depot Center on September 16, 2007. That season they went on to win MLS Cup. So was last night's win a good omen? Only time will tell. But it was certainly well deserved.

After Landon Donovan saw his penalty saved by the impressive Tally Hall midway through the first half, Houston sprung into life to make the most of their good fortune.

On the counter-attack they looked dangerous, with Giles Barnes partnering Will Bruin up top and both holding the ball up to bring Boniek Garcia and Andrew Driver into the game. And it was Driver who got the game-winner in the 65th minute, as the Scottish winger drilled home a terrific left foot shot after great persistence from Barnes. The two British imports linked up well and are thriving for the Dynamo.

Driver and Barnes are examples of what Dominic Kinnear has done well at Houston, he's added young, hungry players from abroad who have plenty to prove and were relatively cheap to pick up. Driver and Barnes were both England youth internationals, but their fortunes had wavered after a laundry list of injuries. Yet Kinnear saw what was worth persisting with and Houston are benefiting from their performances this season.

The Dynamo sit joint top of the East, alongside Sporting KC, Montreal and New York. And Houston are building yet another charge towards a deep playoff run. A solid foundation and continuity in defense has allowed changes further up the pitch — not many, but significant. Yes LA had injuries, but Sunday's two starting lineups looked hugely different, compared to last season's MLS Cup final.

As for LA, well, don't expect Donovan to be taking a PK anytime soon. In the short time he has been back, he's now missed two spot kicks, the other coming in a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas. Apparently, Texas, penalties and Landon Donovan don't mix well.

Never good to miss a penalty kick. We're probably going to have to change that. He's missed two in two games that we've lost, 1-0. Not good, so we probably need to make a change there.

LA huffed and puffed but with Robbie Keane out, they were missing a sharpness and urgency up top. The youngsters they are blooding into the first team are talented, ready to impress. But you don't win anything with kids. Do you? JPW